Curry School of Education

Applicants must be BOC certified or eligible for certification as an athletic trainer (ATC) prior to admission to the post-professional masters program in Athletic Training. For more information about board certification for athletic trainers, visit the BOC website.

You must be a graduate of a CAATE-accredited entry-level athletic training program in order to be eligible for BOC certification. For more information on accreditation of entry-level athletic training educational programs please visit the website of the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education.

Applicants must also possess minimum GRE scores greater than or equal 530 quantitative, 450 verbal, and 4.0 writing, and a minimum of a 3.0 GPA as an undergraduate student.

Full consideration will be given to completed applications received by January 5. Applications received after this date will be considered on a rolling admissions basis until we have filled our class for the upcoming academic year. This process is typically completed by March 1 each year.

Students complete 36 hours of coursework during the 13-month, intensive program. All courses provide advanced instruction related to Athletic Training and are taught by athletic training faculty for athletic training students. Courses are designed to reinforce the points of distinctiveness of the program. Formal coursework is taken during the initial summer of the program as well as during the fall and spring semesters. Students use the final summer to complete their thesis requirements.

Program Points of Distinctiveness

These themes are interwoven throughout all aspects of the masters program:

• Therapeutic interventions
• Neuromuscular aspects of injury and exercise
• Evidence-based practice
• Clinical research

Clinical Experiences:

All students perform a mentored clinical experience at one of our affiliated sites. All admitted masters students receive a clinical graduate assistantship that requires them to work clinically at one of our 4 affiliated sites. These sites include:

• UVA Intercollegiate Athletics
• Virginia Military Institute
• St. Anne’s-Belfield School
• Physical Therapy@ACAC/Monticello High School

Experienced clinical supervisors at each site provide clinical and professional mentorship to the masters students.

Thesis

All students are required to complete a masters thesis consisting of an original research project. The expectation is that this is of such quality that it will be presented at a national scientific meeting (NATA, ACSM…) and acceptable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Thesis topics must be performed in the area of expertise of one of the core athletic training faculty members. These are as follows:

• Joe Hart, PhD, ATC - muscle inhibition, low back pain/core stability, knee injuries, clinical outcomes in orthopaedic sports medicine
• Jay Hertel, PhD, ATC, FNATA - ankle sprains and instability, lower extremity injuries, functional testing, manual therapy, clinical outcomes
• Sue Saliba, PhD, ATC, PT - therapeutic modalities, athlete recovery and human performance, manual therapy, therapeutic exercise

Students are assigned a faculty advisor at the end of the first summer based on mutual interest in a specific research area. Each masters student is also assigned a doctoral student mentor from the PhD program in sports medicine who shares the common research interest. The student’s masters thesis committee also includes at least one other faculty member with expertise in the specific research area.

The masters thesis is a mentored process that is carried out through the entire length of the program.

All admitted masters students receive a clinical graduate assistantship that requires them to work clinically at one of our 4 affiliated sites. These sites include: UVA Intercollegiate Athletics (9 GA’s), Virginia Military Institute (3 GA’s), St. Anne’s-Belfield School (1 GA), and Physical Therapy@ACAC/Monticello High School (1 GA). All clinical sites have at least one full-time athletic trainer (UVA and VMI have several) who provide clinical and professional mentorship to the masters students.

Clinical duties are performed from approximately August 1-May 31. Students receive a stipend of $12,000 paid in equal installments every other week September through May. Housing is provided during the length of the assistantship for the 3 GA’s who are assigned to VMI (this is in addition to the stipend).

Please note that there is no tuition waiver associated with the assistantship - students are responsible for either in-state or out-of-state tuition depending on their Virginia residency status.

The assignment to specific clinical sites is made after the entire class of students has been filled. Specific sport assignments at each site are at the discretion of each site’s head athletic trainer and will be made during
summer I.

13 months (June to June)

Full or Part Time:

Full time students only.

During June of your second summer in the program, you will finish all requirements for your masters thesis (typically due by June 30th).

• Clinical athletic training positions in college, high school, professional sports, or clinical settings.
• Approximately 15% of our masters students are enrolled in a PhD program within 5 years of completion of the masters program.

Jay Hertel       

jhertel@virginia.edu              

Mem Gym 202

434-243-8673